I've been reading through some of the threads in the forums; gotten a bit of an idea who different people are; but I am still confused about the current state of things.

Would Kleptin, or someone else who knows, please give me a brief rundown on how things stand with DDO now, in particular:

-Does votebombing still happen?-Why are there so many members, and so few current debates? (13,622 member/32 ongoing debates)?-How much information is expected/wanted in a RFD?

I realize that I will come off sounding like an complete n00b for asking this, but that has already been debated. http://www.debate.org...Basically, I think the sign on my back that says "Flame me!" is worth it if someone will answer my questions!Thanks in advance! :)

Yes, vote bombing happens. It will always happen. There is no way to avoid it in the site structure like this, so be prepared for it. You'll find that the amount of votebombers that hate you are equal to the friends you make at worst.

RFD's aren't always nessessary, though always prefered. We suggest that you label each category, label who you voted for in that category, and why.

Vote bombing has calmed down quite a bit. If you've been reading then you probably came across the joshandr drama. He was the one doing most of the vote bombing by creating accounts just to vote down the regular users of the site. Long story short, he is now banned and votes from all banned accounts are removed from debates. This makes it pointless for someone to try such widespread abuses.

There will always been some minor voting abuses (mostly people voting without reading the debate), but it is no where near that period of DDO history. Compared to that, things are great.

RFDs aren't required, but many people find them useful. There is no set amount you should write. Write enough to say something of value, not just "Pro because his argument was better." One to three sentences per category is usually enough.

Yes, I did run into the Josh vs. Cleaners vs. CWO party; lost track of what was going on, and realized that I might have to go almost every thread from that time, all the way through, to figure out what happened... figured I'd save time by asking the survivors where things stand now.

One more thing, if it's alright: Are there particular topics that have been debated to the point of nauseam, that if I propose a debate on I will be lynched?

chrys,I read your debate on gay marriage and you did well. I don't do the "I will lose this debate" as they make my head hurt. Everyone seems to be giving you some good advice. I do want to point out that vote bombing never changes the winner of a debate, only the score. Don't worry about the score, users will read your debates and we can tell who does well and who cheats. Welcome to DDO and good luck.

At 9/2/2009 7:15:20 AM, Chrysippus wrote:I've been reading through some of the threads in the forums; gotten a bit of an idea who different people are; but I am still confused about the current state of things.

There's a couple ways to get your questions answered.1. You ask on the forums. As long as you're not annoying or trolling, you'll be respected, and you'll get your questions answered.2. You can look on ddofans.com It's highly suggested that any newcomer to ddo check it out.3. You can also PM any of the people you see answering your questions for more indepth answers.

Would Kleptin, or someone else who knows, please give me a brief rundown on how things stand with DDO now, in particular:

-Does votebombing still happen?

Yes, but it has been cut down a lot since the new update where closed/banned accounts get their votes taken away.

-Why are there so many members, and so few current debates? (13,622 member/32 ongoing debates)?

Well again, not all those members are active, and not everyone here does debates. For example, I myself haven't done a debate in at least 2 months, and that's only because none of the challenges seem interesting, and there's nothing in particular that I want to debate about.

-How much information is expected/wanted in a RFD?

Well RFD's aren't required. However, it's very nice to give them. Basically, a breakdown on how you voted, based on each category, would be enough. For instance:

Conduct: PRO. Con was being abusive and insulting in the second speechS/G: CON. Pro failed to remember to use spell check, and as a result had a lot of errors in grammar.Arguments: PRO. Con failed to refute some of the key points in PRO's argumentation (and you would put some examples...)SOurces: TIE. Both of them used excellent sources.

So you want to make it easy for both debater's to understand, while at the same time being thourough enough that you don't miss anything.

I realize that I will come off sounding like an complete n00b for asking this, but that has already been debated. http://www.debate.org...Basically, I think the sign on my back that says "Flame me!" is worth it if someone will answer my questions!Thanks in advance! :)

Yes, votebombing still occurs. As long as there are people with different opinions, there will be people who disagree to extremes, and people will decide to take their anger out on others by bombing debates.

-Why are there so many members, and so few current debates? (13,622 member/32 ongoing debates)?

Because a substantial number of those accounts are inactive. According to the leader board, there are over 30 pages of debaters who have only had 1 debate.

-How much information is expected/wanted in a RFD?

There are several categories of voting. The first is CONDUCT, the second is SPELLING AND GRAMMAR, the third is ARGUMENT, and the fourth is SOURCES.

At minimum, I suggest that you give a reason why you allocate points to one person over the other for each of the four categories.

Some people opt to give extra advice to each debater, note if there are forfeits, state whether they agreed or disagreed before/after the debate, etc.

If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask :)

: At 5/2/2010 2:43:54 PM, innomen wrote:
It isn't about finding a theory, philosophy or doctrine and thinking it's the answer, but a practical application of one's experiences that is the answer.

: At 10/28/2010 2:40:07 PM, jharry wrote: I have already been given the greatest Gift that anyone could ever hope for [Life], I would consider myself selfish if I expected anything more.